Social media is not a one-size-fits-all kind of marketing tool. If anything, social media has made it much easier for brands and marketers to step outside the box when it comes to executing new, unique online marketing methods.
One challenge marketers and business owners have struggled with in a B2B environment is creating an online social media presence that engages their desired audience and turns them into loyal brand advocates. The problem always seems to be the same; B2B social media channels are boring, and no one wants to interact with them.
B2B social media content doesn’t have to be that way. Here are some B2B brands crushing the social media game and building an army of brand advocates.
Bazaarvoice is a leader in social proof content marketing and, if there’s one thing they do exceptionally well on social, it’s posting content with descriptive, colorful copy that acts as more than just a placeholder. They put some real thought and analysis into what they write on social media, and it shows in their engagement:
Takeaways you can use:
Creating engaging social media posts can be difficult when you’re managing an editorial calendar across multiple social media platforms. That can mean hundreds of social media updates that easily eat up 4-6 hours of your day. When time is an issue, choose one social post to be the star each day. Aim for 4-5 lines of compelling copy that will entice your audience.
We’re not talking about cultural diversity; we’re talking about copy and character diversity. The social media team at Slack is truly exceptional when it comes to making interesting posts from a visual and written perspective:
In the two tweets above you can see how Slack’s team tagged an account, used a hashtag, added an emoji, wrote conversational copy, and utilized ellipses and dashes to break up the text to make the message easier to read. Talk about diversity in a Tweet.
Takeaways you can use:
Write social updates as if you’re having a conversation with your potential clients. Emojis, hashtags, dashes and dots can all add some attitude and represent a brand’s personality.
When a company has the widespread appeal and brand recognition of Adobe, you also expect them to have an impressive social media strategy. They don’t disappoint.
What Adobe does better than anyone else is post amazing user-generated visual content. Everything from cinemagraphs and GIFs to videos and still images is shared on a daily basis from within their large base of brand advocates:
Takeaways you can use:
User-generated visual content is great for two reasons: 1) it’s free, and 2) it incentivizes other brand advocates to create user-generated content for your brand. [Click to Tweet]User-generated content is also a powerful form of social proof because it demonstrates the trust and passion your brand advocates have for your organization.
While Bazaarvoice takes 4-5 lines to create in-depth social posts, Zendesk focuses on being concise. They say just enough to convey the message and draw their audience in:
This approach works perfectly with their brand personality, which is all about simplicity and efficiency—also known as Zen to the Zendesk team.
Takeaways you can use:
Write social media updates in your brand’s voice. Be detailed or brief, whatever fits your brand’s personality. Don’t just replicate another brand’s social presence; make a unique one.
5. IBM: Storytelling
Anytime you discuss social media marketing, there needs to be some inclusion of storytelling. Stories are an integral part of society told throughout every medium in the world. Social media is no different, and IBM does a fantastic job making their social presence hinge on the stories of the people who rely on their technology:
Takeaways you can use:
At its core, social media is a storytelling platform. Tell the story of your brand, clients, customers and employees to make real connections online.
Getting recognition on social media can be difficult in the B2B world where thousands of different brands are spending money to get their ads placed on your social feeds every day of the week. That’s where smart branding becomes a game changer. Nobody knows that better than Content Marketing Institute.
A quick trip to their Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and other social accounts makes it evident why this content marketing brand became the social networking powerhouse they are today. They’ve built a consistent brand experience across all social channels:
Takeaways you can use:
Create a branded social presence by asking, “Would my ideal customer recognize this as part of my brand?”
Aside from being a sleek, modern brand that’s partially responsible for revolutionizing small business owners’ ability to sell from anywhere in the world, Square also rocks their social media presence.
One of the things they do best is treat social media as a medium for connecting with their clients, partners and customers:
Takeaways you can use:
Social media is about interaction. Mention partnership, clients, customers and employees, and be generous with your retweets and shares.
Kickstarter is well known for the creative, funky and sometimes wacky ways people use their service to raise money for all sorts of different causes. It should come as no surprise their social media presence is just as colorful and diverse as their users.
What makes their social media marketing really stand out is how they combine eye-catching creativity with compelling stories from people who are striving to achieve their dreams:
Takeaways you can use:
Emotion is more powerful than logic. Create social media posts with heart behind the message that will evoke influential and positive feelings from your audience.
HubSpot has become one of the world’s most respected B2B marketing brands, thanks in large part to their vast library of resources. While this ocean of resources can certainly be helpful to many businesses, there’s a fine line HubSpot has to tread on social media between self-promotion and maintaining an engaging presence.
To avoid alienating their audience with constant self-promotion, HubSpot instead focuses on creating content that plays off trends, pop culture and the latest industry news. To top it all, they share links to related HubSpot resources in the comments section. This serves the dual purpose of creating interest and self-promoting in less obvious ways. For instance, on its Facebook page, HubSpot shares fun videos we can't resist sharing, like this one about how much email has changed since You've Got Mail came out 20 years ago:
The videos are uploaded directly to its Facebook page so users can watch them without leaving their newsfeed. Facebook gives preference to videos like these since its goal is to keep people on the platform longer.
Takeaways you can use:
Go where your audience is, and give them what they are most interested in seeing on that platform. Capitalize on anniversaries, holidays and trends in pop culture.
There’s nothing worse than checking out a B2B brand’s social media profile and seeing dull, snooze-worthy content. Unfortunately, that’s what most people expect to see because that’s what many brands tend to post. MailChimp is different. They focus on posting catchy, helpful content that their audience can’t help but engage with.
Their Instagram account is a colorful display of every kind of visual content you can imagine. Everything from images, GIFs, videos, artwork and photo collections are just a tap away.
The great thing about MailChimp’s approach to social media is that while each post looks fun, artistic, and engaging, it still promotes their brand, products and audience. The Instagram post below is a perfect example:
Takeaways you can use:
Don’t be afraid to create a colorful B2B social presence that makes the audience feel like they’re mixing business with pleasure. Content that doesn’t look like it’s meant for B2B often works the best. [Click to Tweet]
WeWork is a brand whose mission is to find ways of increasing collaboration, productivity and innovation for other brands by providing stimulating work spaces. Their social media presence reflects all of those elements and provides a steady stream of inspiration for enhancing the workplace culture:
Takeaways you can use:
Collaboration is a natural part of social interaction. Your social media presence can greatly benefit from a focus on collaboration, both in content and execution.
Social media is a key component of demand generation. It adds value for your audience and focuses on brand personality instead of brand promotion. Follow these simple guidelines, and there’s no reason you won’t be able to overcome the stigma of boring B2B social content by creating an engaging, lively social media presence.
